Method of manufacturing formed product coated in mold

ABSTRACT

A process producing an in-mold coated molded product. The process molds a thermoplastic resin material under a mold-clamping pressure in a mold including a fixed mold part and a movable mold part each heated at a predetermined temperature, separates the fixed mold part and the movable mold part when the molded material surface is solidified such that it is durable to a pressure of injection and flow of a coating agent, and injects the coating agent containing a thermosetting resin material between an inner surface of the mold and the molded product obtained. The process also coats the molded product surface with the coating agent as the mold is re-clamped after injecting the coating agent, takes out the molded product coated with the coating agent when the coating agent is cured such that it is neither peeled off nor cracked by opening the mold, and re-heats the molded product after taking it out.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a process for producing an in-moldcoated molded product, obtained by molding a synthetic resin material ina forming mold, and coating the surface of the obtained synthetic resinmaterial by injecting a coating agent in the same forming mold.

BACKGROUND ART

Coating the surface of a resin molded product employed for automobiles,electrical appliances and architectural members, has been widelyperformed for the purposes of adding a value such as fanciness or ofincreasing the weather resistance to prolong the service life of theproduct. As such a method of coating, a spray coating is commonly used.However, in recent years, strong interests are attracted toenvironmental problems, and from viewpoints that emission of harmfulorganic materials into the atmosphere from painting factories arebecoming to be severely restricted and protection of employees' healthshould be considered to be more important, development of a techniqueinstead of spray coating processes is urgently requested.

Under these circumstances, an in-mold coating process draws anattention, which is such a process that after injecting a coating agentbetween the surface of a resin molded product formed in a mold and acavity surface of the mold, the coating agent is cured to obtain aintegrally molded product which is a resin molded product having acoated film on its surface. The in-mold coating method is expected toremarkably contribute to reduce the cost by omitting the coatingprocess.

Such in-mold coating process is mainly employed for improving thesurface of molded products of thermosetting resin material such as SMC(Sheet Molding Compound) and BMC (Bulk Molding Compound). However, ithas not been widely employed yet in the process of injection molding ofa thermoplastic resin. One of the major reasons is as follows. Namely,when the thermosetting coating agent is cured in the mold by utilizingtemperatures of the mold surface and the molded product surface, a hightemperature of the mold and a long curing time are required tosufficiently cure the coating agent. However, the temperature of themold is commonly set to a low temperature in a case of a thermoplasticresin material.

Such in-mold coating process in injection molding of a thermoplasticresin, is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-5-301251 and JP-A-5-318527.

Further, in JP-A-5-301251, the temperatures of a thermoplastic resin andthe surface of the mold are set to be higher than the curing temperatureof the coating agent.

However, the inventors of the present application have found that theappearance of the surface of a coating agent is influenced significantlyby the nature of flowing of the coating agent when it flows in a mold,and that indisturbance of the flow front of the material is an importantcondition. Under the high mold temperature capable of sufficientlycuring the coating agent as described above, the coating agent tends tobe partially gelled or the viscosity of the coating agent tends to beincreased during the flowing, which makes the flowing of the coatingagent uneven and causes wrinkles on the surface of the coating agent ordefects of the coating film such as mottles. Such a phenomenon isremarkable in a case of a coating agent containing an aluminum pigmentor a pearl pigment, since the flow of the coating agent becomes unevenin the mold due to gelation or an increase of the viscosity andorientation of a flake pigment such as the aluminum pigment or the pearlpigment is disturbed, whereby generation of mottles or weldlines becomesremarkable. Therefore, until the coating agent covers the entire surfaceof the molded product to be coated, it is necessary to maintainsufficient flowability by preventing the gelation or the increase of theviscosity. However, for this purpose, it is necessary to either lowerthe temperature of the mold or to slow down the gelation of the coatingagent. This means that the curing reaction is depressed and the curingtime becomes extremely long, and in some cases, the curing enough toexhibit a sufficient performance could not be achieved, and therefore,such courses are undesirable.

Further, JP-A-5-318527 discloses a process of curing a thermosettingcoating agent by heating a mold by e.g. a high-frequency inductionheating to cure the coating agent after the coating agent is injectedinto the mold. However, in this process, since the mold is heated andcooled in the forming cycle, there are disadvantages of energy loss anda long forming cycle.

The present invention has been made under the above circumstances. It isan object of the present invention to provide a process for producing anin-mold coated molded product wherein after a forming material ofthermoplastic resin is molded in a mold, a coating agent is coated onthe surface of the molded product in the same mold whereby the moldedproduct with a coating, which is free from wrinkles, cracks, mottles andweldlines in its cured coating film and has a high quality can beassured.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a process for producing an in-mold coatedmolded product, comprising:

a step of molding a thermoplastic resin material under a mold-clampingpressure in a mold comprising a fixed mold part and a movable mold parteach heated at a predetermined temperature, separating the fixed moldpart and the movable mold part when the surface of the molded materialis solidified to such a degree that it is durable to a pressure ofinjection and flow of a coating agent, and injecting the coating agentcontaining a thermosetting resin material between an inner surface ofthe mold and the molded product obtained;

a step of coating the surface of the molded product with the coatingagent as the mold is re-clamped after the injection of the coatingagent;

a step of taking out the molded product coated with the coating agentwhen the coating agent is cured to such a degree that it is not peeledoff nor cracked by opening the mold; and

a step of re-heating the molded product after taking it out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: a diagram showing the entire construction of an apparatus forproducing an in-mold coated molded product according to an example ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2: a flowchart of carrying out an example by employing theapparatus for producing an in-mold molded product shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3: a view showing the sequence of mold clamping and mold separatingat a time of carrying out the example by employing the apparatus forproducing an in-mold coated molded product shown in FIG. 1.

Explanation of numerals  10: mold-clamping apparatus 11: fixed plate 12: movable plate  13: mold-clamping cylinder 14: tie rod  15:mold-clamping servo-valve  16: stroke sensor  17: mold separation amountsensor  18: mold-clamping force sensor  20: injection apparatus 21:screw  22: barrel  23: hydraulic motor  24: injection cylinder 25:hopper  26: nozzle  27: injection servo-valve 30: controller  31:molding apparatus control unit  32: mold-clamping condition setting unit 33: mold-clamping control unit  35: injector control unit  38:injection-apparatus control unit  50: mold apparatus 51: fixed mold  52:movable mold 53: mold cavity  54: temperature sensor  55: coating agentinjector 100: apparatus for producing an in-mold coated    moldedproduct

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a coating film in a half-cured stateis formed in a mold, a coated molded product is taken out from the moldand re-heated in another process to re-activate a curing-initiatorremaining in the coating agent by a heat energy to cure the coatingagent into a final-cured state, whereby it becomes possible to obtain acoated molded product having little defect in the external appearanceand excellent in the coating film properties.

In the present invention, the coating agent is preferably not gelleduntil it covers the surface of a molded product. Accordingly, thetemperature of a mold is preferably in a range in which the gelationtime of the coating agent is from 5 to 60 seconds, more preferably from7 to 40 seconds. Here, the gelation time is defined as a time requireduntil the coating agent becomes non-flowable, and the gelation timedescribed herein is measured by a ICAM-1000 Dielectro Meter(manufactured by Micromet Instruments, Inc.). If the temperature of themold is a temperature at which the gelation time is shorter than theabove-mentioned gelation time, the coating agent tends to be gelled inthe process of flowing in the mold or the viscosity tends to beincreased, such being not preferred. Further, if the temperature is atemperature at which the gelation time becomes longer than theabove-mentioned gelation time, it takes a long time to half-cure thecoating film to such a degree that the coating agent is not peeled offand cracks do not appear when the mold is separated, such being notpreferred from viewpoints of the forming cycle and productivity.Further, the temperature of re-heating the molded product is preferablyfrom 10 to 40° C. higher than the above-mentioned mold temperature,since the coating agent is cured and proper properties of the coatingfilm can be obtained.

Here, the mold temperature in the present invention means the averagetemperature of the cavity surface of the mold in a period from justbefore injecting the coating agent in the mold cavity to the almosttermination of the curing reaction of the coating agent. However, eventhough it is difficult to measure the temperature of the cavity surfaceof the mold, it is generally possible to use the setting temperature ofthe mold as the temperature of the cavity surface of the mold in thepresent invention. Further, if there is a large difference between thesetting temperature of the mold and the temperature of the cavitysurface of the mold, it is of course within the scope of the presentinvention to determine the mold setting temperature taking theabove-mentioned temperature difference into account so that thetemperature of the cavity surface of the mold becomes within thepreferred range of the present invention.

Such a coating agent containing thermosetting resin material to be usedin the present invention, is preferably one containing a thermosettingresin material for which an organic peroxide is used as an initiatorcausing a curing reaction, from a viewpoint of curing properties of thecoating agent.

Further, the above organic peroxide is preferably one comprising atleast two types of organic peroxides having different one-minutehalf-life temperatures. The purpose is to let a part of organic peroxideremain in the coating agent just after the molded product coated withthe coating agent is taken out from the mold. Further, the organicperoxides preferably comprises two types of organic peroxides, at leastone type of which has a one-minute half-life temperature substantiallythe same as the temperature of the mold and the other type of which hasa one-minute half-life temperature preferably from 10 to 40° C. higherthan the mold temperature. In such measures, a plenty of organicperoxide remains in the coating agent formed on the molded product whenit is taken out from the mold, such being more preferred from aviewpoint of starting the reaction when the product is re-heated.

As a thermoplastic resin material to be used in the present invention, athermoplastic resin material such as polyethylene, polypropylene,acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, polycarbonate, polyamide,polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate or a modifiedpolyphenylene ether, or an alloy material thereof or a material obtainedby mixing a fiber form or a flake pigment thereto, may be mentioned.

Further, as a coating agent containing a thermosetting resin material tobe used in the present invention, various types of known in-mold coatingagents can be employed, and for example, coating agents described inpublications such as JP-A-54-36369, JP-A-54-139962, JP-A-55-65511,JP-A-57-140, JP-A-60-212467, JP-A-60-221437, JP-A-1-229605,JP-A-5-70712, JP-A-5-148375, JP-A-6-107750 and JP-A-8-113761, may bementioned as typical coating agents.

As a thermosetting resin material forming the coating agent, an oligomerhaving at least two (meth)acrylate groups such as an urethane acrylateoligomer or an epoxy acrylate oligomer, or resins thereof; or a materialhaving as the main component a vehicle component composed by from 20 to70 wt % of an unsaturated polyester resin and from 80 to 30 wt % of acopolymerizable ethylenic unsaturated monomer such as methyl(meth)acrylate, ethyl (meth)acrylate, propyl (meth)acrylate, butyl(meth)acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl (meth)acrylate, (meth)acrylic acid, vinylacetate, tripropylene glycol diacrylate or styrene, which requires anorganic peroxide as an initiator for a curing reaction, are particularlypreferred. To such a coating agent, various types of coloring pigments,aluminum pigments, pearl pigments, mold release agents,photostabilizers, etc. may be added.

As the organic peroxides, bis(4-t-butylcyclohexyl)peroxydicarbonate,diisopropylperoxydicarbonate, di-2-ethylhexylperoxydicarbonate,t-octylperoxyoctoate, t-amylperoxyoctoate, t-butylperoxyoctoate,t-octylperoxybenzoate, dibenzoylperoxide,1,1-di-t-butylperoxycyclohexane, t-butylperoxy-3,5,5-trimethylhexanoate,2,2-di-t-butylperoxybutane, t-butylperoxyisopropylcarbonate,t-amylperoxybenzoate, t-butylperoxybenzoate, etc. may be mentioned.

Now, Examples of the present invention will be described in detail withreference to the drawings. Both of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are according toexamples of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing entireconstruction of an apparatus for producing an in-mold coated moldedproduct, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart in a case of performing the moldingoperations described in Examples 1 and 2 by employing the apparatus forproducing an in-mold coated molded product shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus 100 for producing an in-mold coatedmolded product used in the present invention, is a generally used toggletype injection molding machine which comprises roughly a mold clampingapparatus 10, an injection apparatus 20, a controller 30 and a moldapparatus 50.

The mold clamping apparatus 10 comprises a fixing plate 11 to which themold apparatus 50 is attached, and a movable plate 12. The mold clampingapparatus 10 is constituted so that the movable plate 12 is guided by atie-rod 14 and moved back and forth with respect to the fixed plate 11by a mold clamping cylinder 13 to open or close the mold apparatus 50.

In the injection apparatus 20, a screw 21 having a spiral-shaped flightportion is disposed along the inner periphery of a cylindrical barrel 22so that the screw 21 is rotatable by a hydraulic motor 23 and movableback and forth. As the screw 21 rotates, resin pellets supplied in thehopper 25 are fed forward the screw 21, and the resin pellets are heatedby a heater, not shown, attached to the outer periphery of the barrel22, and applied with a kneading action by the rotation of the screw,whereby the resin pellets are melted.

When the amount of the melted resin fed forward the screw 21 becomes apredetermined amount, the rotation of the hydraulic motor 23 is stoppedand the injection cylinder 24 drives the screw 21 forward, whereby themelted resin stored at a front of the screw 21 is injected through anozzle 26 into a mold cavity 53 of the mold apparatus 50.

In the mold apparatus 50, a fixed mold 51 attached to the fixed plate 11and a movable mold 52 attached to the movable plate 12 are provided. Inthe movable mold 52, a coating agent injector 55 for injecting thecoating agent into the mold cavity 53 and a temperature sensor 54 fordetecting the surface temperature of the synthetic resin material in themold cavity 53 are disposed.

Then, the construction of the controller 30 will be described. As shownin FIG. 1, the controller 30 comprises a molding apparatus control unit31 for synchronizing the operation of the mold clamping apparatus 10with the operation of the injection apparatus 20 and for controlling theentire system of the controller 30, and an injection-apparatus controlunit 38 for controlling the operation of the injection apparatus 20.These control units 31 and 38 have the same control functions as controlunits of a common injection molding apparatus. On the other hand, as acontrol unit having a unique control function of the apparatus 100 forproducing an in-mold coated molded product, there are provided aninjector control unit 35 for controlling the operation of a coatingagent injector 55 in accordance with molding condition data signalreceived from a mold-clamping condition setting unit 32, and amold-clamping control unit 33 for controlling the operation of themold-clamping apparatus 10 in accordance with the molding condition datasignal received from the mold-clamping condition setting unit 32 in thesame manner.

In the mold-clamping condition setting unit 32, molding conditions i.e.open/close speed, operation timing, mold-separation amount andmold-clamping force of the mold-clamping apparatus 10, and injectionamount, injection speed, injection timing and injection pressure of thecoating agent injector 55 are set. The mold-clamping condition settingunit 32 sends molding condition data regarding the injection amount,injection speed, injection timing and injection pressure of the coatingagent injector 55 to the injector control unit 35, and sends moldingcondition data signal regarding open/close speed, operation timing, moldseparation amount and mold-clamping force of the mold-clamping apparatus10 to the mold-clamping control unit 33.

Then, an example of the operations of the apparatus 10 for producing anin-mold coated molded product comprising the controller 30 having aconstruction as described above, will be described.

Under a feedback control by a control signal transmitted from themold-clamping control unit 33 and by the mold-clamping servo-valve 15,the movable mold 12 is moved forward from the mold-open position totouch the fixed mold 11 by the mold-clamping cylinder 13 in accordancewith the mold-closing speed pattern set in the mold-clamping conditionsetting unit 32. Then, under the feedback control by a control signaltransmitted from the mold-clamping control unit 33 and by themold-clamping servo-valve 15, the movable mold 12 is further movedforward by the mold-clamping cylinder 13 in accordance with themold-clamping force pattern set in the mold-clamping condition settingunit 32, to extend the tie-rod 14 to effect a predeterminedmold-clamping force to the mold apparatus 50. At a predeterminedoperation timing in such an operation of the mold-clamping apparatus 10,the degree of opening of the injection servo-valve 27 is controlled by acontrol signal transmitted from the injection apparatus control unit 38to drive the injection cylinder 24 to move the screw 21 forward, wherebymelted resin stored at the front of the screw 21 is injected through thenozzle 26 into the mold cavity 53 to form a molded product of thesynthetic resin. Here, the molding apparatus control unit 31 sends andreceives operation timing signal so that the operations of themold-clamping apparatus 10 and the injection apparatus 20 are insynchronism with each other.

Then, the movable mold 12 is moved backward by the mold-clampingcylinder 13, and under a feedback control by a control signaltransmitted from the mold-clamping control unit 33 and by themold-clamping servo-valve 15, a spacing is provided between the surfaceof the synthetic resin material and the surface of the mold cavity 53 byapplying a predetermined mold-open amount set in the mold-clampingcondition setting unit 32, and thereafter, in accordance with theinjection amount, injection speed, injection timing and injectionpressure of the coating agent injector 55 set in the mold-clampingcondition setting unit 32, the coating agent injector 55 is driven by acontrol signal transmitted from the injector control unit 35 to injectthe coating agent into the mold cavity 53.

Then, when an injection-completion signal from the injector control unit35 is received, the movable mold 12 is moved forward again by themold-clamping cylinder 13 under a feedback control of the control signaltransmitted from the mold-clamping control unit 33 and by themold-clamping servo-valve 15, and an operation is performed inaccordance with the mold-clamping timing, a mold-open amount pattern anda mold-clamping force-time pattern. Accordingly, the injected coatingagent is spread over the entire surface of the synthetic resin material,and optimum molding conditions for the external appearance quality ofthe coating film are provided.

Thereafter, under a feedback control by a control signal transmittedfrom the mold-clamping control unit 33 and by the mold-clampingservo-valve 15, the movable mold 12 is moved backward to the mold openposition by the mold-clamping cylinder 13 in accordance with theoperation timing and the mold-opening speed pattern set in themold-clamping condition setting unit 32, and a coated molded product istaken out from the mold apparatus 50 to complete the forming cycle.

EXAMPLES

Now, the present invention will be described in further detail withreference to Examples. However, the scope of the present invention isnot limited to these Examples.

Example 1

By employing a mold having a Share Edge structure capable of producing abox-shaped product of 300 mm long, 210 mm wide, 50 mm deep and 3 mmthick, a heat resisting ABS (tradename: Cycolac MX40, manufactured byUbe Cycon) was injection-molded by applying a mold-clamping force of 200t. At this time, the resin temperature was 250° C. and the moldtemperature was 85° C. The cooling time of molding this resin was 30seconds. Thereafter, the mold was separated to have a spacing of 1.5 mmand 12 cc of the coating agent A or B described in Table 1 was injected.It had been known that the gelation time of the coating agent A is 22seconds at 85° C. and the gelation time of the coating agent B is 30seconds at 85° C. The time required to inject the coating agent was 0.5seconds. 0.1 seconds after the injection of the coating agent,re-clamping of the mold was started and the clamping force was increasedto 20 t in 1 second, and the clamping was maintained for 60 seconds.Thereafter, the mold was opened to take out the molded product. Themolded product was immediately put into a hot-air drying furnace havinga setting temperature of 100° C., reserved there for 20 minutes andtaken out. A cured coating film having a thickness of about 100 μm wasformed over the entire surface of the molded product, whereby auniformly coated molded product having no defect such as mottles,wrinkles and cracks, was produced.

Comparative Example 1

The steps of injecting the coating agent, starting the re-clamping andincreasing the clamping force to 20 t in 1 second, were performed in thecompletely same manner as Example 1. However, the clamping wasmaintained for 20 seconds instead of 60 seconds, and the mold was openedto take out the molded product. Of the molded product not re-heatedafter it was taken out from the opened mold, a coating film having athickness of about 100 μm was formed over its entire surface. However,the coating film had low gloss and low hardness since it was notre-heated.

The evaluation results of the coating film properties of Example 1 andComparative Example 1 are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 1 (wt %) Coating agent A B Urethane acrylate oligomer (1) 60.060.0 Tripropylene glycol diacrylate 40.0 40.0 Titanium dioxide 90.0 —Carbon black 0.5 0.1 Aluminum pigment (1) — 0.2 Aluminum pigment (2) —0.8 Zinc stearate 1.5 1.5 Tinuvin 292 — 0.8 Tinuvin 1130 — 1.6 Bis(4-t-2.0 1.5 butylcyclohexyl)peroxydicarbonate Urethane acrylate oligomer (1)MN = 1500 Aluminum pigment (1) Average particle size 20 μm, aspect ratio30 Aluminum pigment (2) Average particle size 25 μm, aspect ratio 2Tinuvin: Tradename of Chiba-GeigyBis(4-t-butylcyclohexyl)peroxydicarbonate: Organic peroxide having aone-minute half-life temperature of 92° C.

TABLE 2 Ex. 1 Comp. Ex. 1 A B A B Specular gloss (*1) 88 96 78 68 Pencilscratch value (*1) F HB 3B 3B Grid tape method (*1) 10 10  2  0 (*1): Inaccordance with JISK 5400 Testing methods for paints

Example 2

By employing the same mold employed in Example 1, a polyamide resin(tradename: UBE nylon PA1013B, manufactured by Ube Industries, Ltd.) wasinjection-molded by applying a mold-clamping force of 300 t in the samemanner as in Example 1. At this time, the resin temperature was 250° C.,the mold temperature was 90° C. and the cooling time of molding thisresin was 30 seconds. Thereafter, the mold was separated to have aspacing of 1.5 mm and 12 cc of the coating agent C described in Table 3was injected. It had been known that the gelation time of the coatingagent is 25 seconds at 90° C. The time required to inject the coatingagent was 0.5 seconds. 3 Seconds after the completion of injecting thecoating agent, re-clamping of the mold was started and the clampingforce was increased to 20 t in 3 seconds, this state was maintained for60 seconds, and thereafter, the mold was opened to take out the moldedproduct. Then, the molded product was reserved in a hot-air dryingfurnace having a setting temperature of 120° C. for 20 minutes and takenout. There formed a cured coating film having a thickness of about 100μm over the entire surface of the molded product, and the molded productwas a coated molded product having no defects such as weldlines ofaluminum pigment, uneven orientation, wrinkles and cracks.

Comparative Example 2

The steps of injecting the coating agent, starting the re-clamping andincreasing the clamping force to 20 t in 3 seconds, were performed inthe completely same manner as Example 2. However, the mold-clamping wasmaintained for 180 seconds instead of 90 seconds, and the mold wasopened to take out the molded product. There was formed a coating filmhaving a thickness of about 100 μm over the entire surface of the moldedproduct not re-heated. However, the coating film had low gloss and lowhardness since the coating film was not re-heated.

Table 4 shows evaluation results of the coating film properties ofExample 2 and Comparative Example 2.

TABLE 3 Coating agent C Urethane acrylate oligomer (1) 60.0 Tripropyleneglycol diacrylate 40.0 Aluminum pigment (1) 1.5 Aluminum pigment (2) 4.5Zinc stearate 1.5 Tinuvin 292 0.8 Tinuvin 1130 1.6 8% cobalt octoate 0.2Bis(4-t- 0.2 butylcyclohexyl)peroxydicarbonatet-alumiperoxy-2-ethylhexanoate 1.5 Lysinetriisocyanate 10.0t-alumiperoxy-2-ethylhexanoate: organic peroxide having a one-minutehalf-life temperature of 127° C.

TABLE 4 Ex. 2 Comp. Ex. 2 C C Specular gloss (*1) 85 68 Pencil scratchvalue (*1) HB 2B Grid tape method (*1) 10  2

Comparative Example 3

A molded product was prepared in the same manner as Comparative Example1 except that the mold temperature was increased to 105° C., there-clamping was started after the completion of injecting the coatingagent, the mold-clamping force was increased to 20 t in one second andmaintained for 60 seconds and the mold was opened to take out the moldedproduct. It had been known that the gelation time of the coating agent Ais 3.5 seconds at 105° C., and the gelation time of the coating agent Bis 4.0 seconds at 105° C. There was formed a cured coating film having athickness of about 100 μm over the entire surface of the molded product.However, there were wrinkles and uneven gloss appeared due to thegelation in the mold. Further, in the case of the coating agent B, thecoated molded product was poor in which there were remarkable unevenalignment of aluminum pigment and remarkable weldlines.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

Maintaining a sufficient flowability of the coating agent in the mold, acoating film is formed in a semi-cured state having no defects in theexternal appearance, the coated molded product is taken out from themold, re-heated in another step to activate the initiator for curingremaining in the coating agent to cure the coating agent to a finalcured state, whereby it becomes possible to obtain a coated moldedproduct having no defects in the external appearance and excellent incoating film properties. Further, a process for producing an in-moldcoated molded product, which can reduce the molding cycle and isexcellent in the productivity, can be provided.

1. A process for producing an in-mold coated molded product, comprising:molding a thermoplastic resin material under a mold-clamping pressure ina mold comprising a fixed mold part and a movable mold part each heatedat a predetermined temperature to obtain a molded product; separatingthe fixed mold part and the movable mold part when a surface of themolded product is solidified to such a degree that the surface isdurable to a pressure of injection and flow of a coating agent;injecting the coating agent containing a thermosetting resin materialbetween an inner surface of the mold and the molded product; coating thesurface of the molded product with the coating agent as the mold isre-clamped after injecting the coating agent; removing the moldedproduct coated with the coating agent when the coating agent is cured tosuch a degree that the coating agent is not peeled off nor cracked byopening the mold; and re-heating the molded product after removing themolded product by applying external thermal energy; wherein: thetemperature of re-heating the molded product is higher than thetemperature of the mold; an organic peroxide is used as an initiator fora curing reaction of the thermosetting resin material; the organicperoxide comprises at least two types of organic peroxides; and at leastone of the organic peroxides has a one-minute half-life temperaturehigher than the temperature of the mold.
 2. The process for producing anin-mold coated molded product according to claim 1, wherein thetemperature of the mold is a temperature at which the gelation time ofthe coating agent is from 5 to 60 seconds.